When You're Gone
by Cortana Hansen
Summary: Takes place a year after the Minions movie. Minions may generally be happy creatures, but today is a sad day for one of them. And although their boss is utterly despicable, he isn't as invulnerable as he seems. -Sorry for the extremely short summary. Character death- you have been warned!


**This is an idea I thought of while in the middle of writing a chapter for** ** _A Despicable Vacation._** **Get ready for some feels (hopefully). And for those of you who like to listen to music while reading (like me!), then I recommend listening to** ** _When You're Gone_** **by Avril Lavigne. This oneshot is actually named after that song, lol! Anyway, if you don't have an album with the song, just go to YouTube and search for a music video. You'll have no trouble finding one, I'm sure.**

 **Onto the story now! :)**

. . .

 ** _When You're Gone_**

 _1:48 P.M._ _April 9, 1969… young Gru's lab…_

The minions stood in a circle before a small casket in the center of the room. Inside lay a small, soft furred rat, covered by a small quilt with flowers stitched on it. Next to the casket stood a disgruntled Gru, a grief-stricken Bob, and very sleepy Dr. Nefario.

"Minions!" Gru bellowed to the crowd. Despite his young age and small size, the nine-year old villain had a powerful voice. That was especially emphasized when said voice echoed throughout the room. "We are gathered here today because a great… uh, friend has passed on-" Bob started sobbing and suddenly pulled Gru into a hug. The boy attempted to ignore this as he continued his speech. "Poochy was… well… Bob's pet. He has been ever seence... well you all came here from England. How you even managed to follow me here ees a mystery of eet's own... so, weethout further ado, let us beed farewell to dis wonderful pet."

 _"And major nuisance,"_ Gru added in his head. But when he looked down at the poor little minion crying on his chest, Gru immediately regretted the thought. The young villain patted Bob on the head with pity. Pity. A villain shouldn't feel pity.

And yet, here he was, feeling sorry for someone else. Gru shook his head and just continued to comfort Bob.

"Perhaps we should get back to work," Nefario suggested.

"I agree," Gru nodded. He pushed Bob away gently. "You hear dat, right, Bob? We can't mourn anymore today. We have a schedule to keep."

Bob nodded sadly. Tears were flooding his goggles. Gru pulled the goggles off the minion's face and wiped the tears with his sleeve. "Dere, all better. Alright everyone! Geet to work!"

 _That evening…_

Bob turned over in his bunk for the millionth time, clutching his teddy bear Ted closely. Finally the little minion decided that he wasn't going to get any sleep that night. He slipped out of his bed, tiny socked feet hitting the metal floor. Bob trotted over to the room's exit.

If he couldn't spend the night sleeping, he might as well spend it exploring. Bob opened the heavy metal door and slipped outside. The door shut behind him with a loud bang. But he wasn't worried about waking his fellow minions up. They slept like rocks.

Bob walked up the wooden stairs into a long, carpeted hallway. Covering the walls were paintings. These always fascinated Bob. How did humans get every colour so… right?

Bob happened to look further down the hall and saw Gru standing in front of a picture, studying it closely. Bob walked up to him in puzzlement. "Whaaat nama to doing?"

"Ack!" Gru jumped and flailed his arms about wildly, startled. Then he saw it was Bob and chuckled nervously. He then lowered his arms and clasped them behind his back. "Eet's just you. What are you doeeng out of bed, may I ask?"

"Ka takan zee," Bob replied. "Tenga awnyok cama Poochy."

It took a moment before Gru understood. He was still learning the Minionese language. And even having a dictionary didn't help much. Finally Gru said, "I can't sleep either."

Bob was confused by this statement. He never met an evil boss who couldn't sleep- until tonight. "Po ka not?"

Gru shrugged. "Sometimes my mind theenks about too many theengs to shut down. So I walk around. Let my mind do eet's theeng. You know?"

Bob shrugged. Then he looked at the picture that Gru had been looking at earlier. Inside the large frame was a picture of many similar-looking faces, all with strange lines leading down. Eventually the lines met together into a singular one… that led to a small picture of Gru's face.

"Mibqis this?" Bob asked, curious. He had never seen such a picture before.

"Dis?" Gru repeated. "Dis ees my family tree. Depicting every Gru seence… well, ever!"

Bob was fascinated. "Kue that?" He pointed to a small picture on the family tree of a not so pretty woman.

"Dat is my grandmother, Madeline Gru," Gru replied. "She made dee best jelly in New York. Oh! Eenteresting fact! My mother and father were actually related een some way or another!" Gru's pleased expression changed to a rather disgusted one. "Wheech ees actually a leetle deesturbeeng, now dat I theenk about eet… ew… dat's an eemage I'll never geet out of my brain... ugh!" The young villain pinched his long nose and shook his head.

"Whaaat piklo da tu dad anyway?" Bob asked.

"Wha…? Oh. Right." Gru frowned. "Um… I deed tell you all dat my dad ees dead, right?"

Bob nodded.

"But not _how_ he died?"

Bob nodded again, not sure at what he was getting at. How was this important? Was it important?

Gru sighed as he pulled the memory of what his mother told him back into the light of memory. "My mum told me... that when I was born… my dad… he died of deesapointment... in me."

"'Dees-eepointy-ment?'" Bob repeated, trying out the word.

Gru nodded sadly. "I never got dee chance to show heem… dat I'm not a deesapointment!" Bob flinched at the outburst. Gru sighed and continued, "Dat... I'm not dee failure my mother theenks I am. Dat's what keeps me awake… deese thoughts dat runs through my head… but someday, I'm goeeng to show dee world I'm not a loser! One of dese days, dey'll all see who _I_ truly am! Felonius Gru! Dee greatest villain of all time! I mean, I _stole_ dee queen's crown from Scarlet Overkeell, for evil's sake! Who can top _dat_ , huh?!" Gru calmed down after a moment of silence. "One of dese days... maybe... I dunno... maybe I'll actually mean sometheeng... for once."

Bob looked down at his feet sadly. He reached out his hand and patted Gru's back. "Ka mibo cama to. Pem tadda batooay. Ganhie noor boss... yee noor budj!"

Gru looked at Bob and smiled. "Thank you. Dat means a lot to me. At least someone on dis planet cares about me." There was a long pause. "You should go to bed. Eet'll a beeg day tomorrow. I need all my minions een teep top shape eef we're goeeng to steal dee Statue of Leeberty..."

 _The End_

. . .

 **So hopefully you all liked that oneshot. Constructive criticism, no flames, are appreciated. By the way, fun fact (or maybe not if you're a bit squeamish about this kind of thing):**

 **Marlena and Robert Gru (Felonius and Dru Gru's parents) are actually related, according to the Despicable Me Wiki. While somewhat disturbing in more ways than one, this is a kinda interesting fact. I guess. I dunno.**

 **Live long and prosper (yes, I like Star Trek. :) Lol!)**


End file.
